Our New Favorite Hike to Blue Lakes

We have been blessed to take so many wonderful hikes in the last six months, but we found a new one for our favorite list.  The hike to Blue Lakes started at the end of a nine-mile gravel road where we got peeks of the peaks we would get to experience today.

At the end of that gravel road we were surprised to see a full parking lot.  Obviously other people had heard about this hike as well! It was 9:30 by the time we got on the trail, and Denisa was wearing a jacket.  Isn't that crazy for August?!?  But we were over 9,400 feet in elevation, and heading up to almost 12,000 feet.  The first two miles are relatively steep, enveloped in a healthy pine forest with occasional glimpses of the creek.  But after two hours of hiking, we broke out of the trees and into a beautiful mountain view.

Surrounded by thirteen and fourteen thousand foot mountains, Denisa is feeling pretty small in that lovely valley.

It was at this elevation that we also started seeing a great selection of wildflowers.

There were also river crossings, complicated by a good bit of white water.

There were no bridges on this hike, but there were some well placed logs and rocks so that even Denisa could get across without getting her feet wet.

Even in August there is still snow in these high mountains, so the waterfalls and creeks are still flowing from the snow melt. 

It's only the second time we have seen the bright pink paintbrush flowers.  Most of the time they are orange, but at higher elevations they can be a beautiful shade of rose pink.

After three hours of hiking (or perhaps it was 2 hours of hiking and 1 hours of stopping to take pictures), we finally got to the edge of Lower Blue Lake.  True to its name, it was an exquisite color of turquoise blue.   There are still patches of snow to play in at the edge of the lake.

The entire lake is ringed with tall purple wildflowers.  There were a few fellow hikers at the lake, and they commented that Denisa must have dressed to match the flowers this morning.

We visited at length with a couple from Iowa that were enjoying this hike as much as we were.  So we took their picture together, and they reciprocated by taking our picture at the edge of the lake as well.

Many people turn around at the lower lake, but we had read about more lakes higher in the mountains.  The hike this far is rated as moderate, but adding the upper lakes changes the rating to strenuous.  Of course, we pressed onward and upward, and got a closer look at those magnificent mountain peaks.

Going further would necessitate two more creek crossings.

But it also brought us to a ridge with a great view looking down on Lower Blue Lake.

From above, we could get a better picture of the majesty of the entire scene with a 14,000 foot mountain peak shadowing the lake.

The ridges above the lake were blanketed with the thickest crop of wildflowers we have ever seen.

The higher we hiked, the more yellow wildflowers we found.  We feel like we have been blessed with wildflowers for many months.

After another hour on the trail, we got to Middle Blue Lake.  Not as blue as the lower lake, it was still a beautiful sight to see.

At this elevation, the paintbrushes are no longer orange, or even pink.  For the first time we are seeing yellow paintbrush wildflowers.

 Upper Blue Lake is just over the hill from the middle lake, and is nestled in a bowl formed by mountains that tower over 13,000 feet.  You can see Mark in the lower left corner of the picture.  Probably a better way to get an idea of the size of this lake, is to find the tiny fisherman in the middle of the picture.

While enjoying these lakes, we were entertained by a marmot that was posing among the wildflowers.

Denisa started this hike wearing a jacket, and the cold temperatures at the top brought the jacket back out again.  We guess the marmot was chilly too, as he stretched out on the rock for some sun.

We found out that our new friends from Iowa were in the area for a professional conference.  He is a veterinarian, and had just been schooled on a new technique for knee surgery for his patients.  Perhaps Mr. Marmot heard our conversation, as he ran towards the doctor for a professional opinion about his knee pain.  We meet some of the nicest people (and animals) on these hikes.

After eating a snack and taking in all these gorgeous views, it was time to head towards home.  We were 4.7 miles from the car at this point, but the good news is that the trip back is all downhill. You can barely see Denisa on the trail beside Middle Blue Lake, more than a little sad to be leaving this place.

We wandered back down the ridge and got one more view of Lower Blue from above.  

Sorry about another picture of Lower Blue Lake, but we will remember that stunning turquoise lake forever.  We have been blessed to witness another of God's wonders!

After hiking trails where we didn't see another person all day, there was more traffic than we were used to on this trail.  Despite the effort needed to hike this far and this high, we noticed that everyone we met had a huge smile on their face.  That would include Denisa.

We met another hiker in this section that was filled with majestic views and waist-high wildflowers.  He greeted us with, "Isn't it great to be us today?"  Amen.